Crucial 256MB PC 2100 DDR SDRAM

Introduction

Not too long ago SDRAM ruled the PC memory market. However since DDR RAM was introduced in the last couple of years, SDRAM is simply phasing out of the market. However this phasing out process isn’t as fast as we would have expected. Well the main reason for this is the fact that SDRAM still packs a huge amount of performance, and is becoming cheaper by every single day. As a result it still makes sense for existing users to go with SDRAM rather than going for a considerable upgrade into DDR. Furthermore the performance increase you get isn’t a very significantly high number either.

Nevertheless even a marginal increase in performance is still an increase and I believe DDR is here to stay, no matter who says otherwise. From what I see, I believe SDRAM has reached its pinnacle point where you cannot extract more power from it without changing its fundamental design. So this inevitably brings us back to DDR. When DDR was first introduced to the market they were priced well over the prices of SDRAM modules. (Almost two to three times more). This is common to any new product. If you recall the intorduction of the GeForce3. Well today these cards go for half the price of which they were originaly priced at. Similarly today we’re offered with high-performance DDR RAM modules for almost the price of any SDRAM stick, thus making an upgrade into DDR more sensible. For example the 256MB Crucial DDR module we’re looking at today is offered at $179, and currently Crucial is also offering Free shipping. Now that’s how cheap the market has become for DDR.

For those new to DDR, and for those wanting to make thetransition to DDR but not sure as to what to expect, let me give a small introduction into DDR memory:-

What is DDR SDRAM?

DDR is an acronym for “Double Data Rate”. DDR doubles the data rate of current memory by sending two units of data per clock cycle, rather than conventional SDRAM units. DDR is widely considered one of the best mainstream next generation memory solutions. DDR has a peak bandwidth of 2.1GB per second, which effectively doubles the data transfer rate of PC133 SDRAM.

How DDR Works

DDR works by using both the rising and the falling edge of the clock to send and receive data, thus delivering twice the amount of information in the same amount of time. Here’s a graphical representation on how DDR actually works:

One fact to keep in mind is that DDR doesn’t double a system’s overall performance. However it’ll lead to significant performance improvements. In order to see the biggest performance gains, you’ll want to get a system designed to take advantage of the benefits of DDR. Motherboards based on the VIA KT226A chipset are known currently to be the best DDR performance chipset. So if you plan on a system upgrade for the New Year, make sure you get a mainboard based on this chipset. (Await our review of the Soyo Dragon Plus review shortly)